


In the Air

by antigrav_vector



Series: Spiraling Ever Upward [8]
Category: Captain America (MCU), Iron Man (MCU), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bisexual James Rhodes, Bisexual Tony Stark, F/M, M/M, Multi, POV Tony Stark, Threesome - M/M/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-16 05:19:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17543435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: It was more than a little bit hilarious watching their cool collected Rhodey get tongue-tied and stutter, but after the fourth time it happened in front of them, it was definitely time for a talk. Or at least Pepper thought so.





	In the Air

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed.
> 
> So, here is the next installment of my college AU of my OT6 fic series [Like trying to stop an avalanche](https://archiveofourown.org/series/380455). It's been a little while since I added to this series but I haven't forgotten about it. I've been working on a pair of Big Bang fics, soooooo. Yeah. Lots to do lately. Oh and as previously noted there will be a lot of poly in this and upcoming installments, so if that's not your thing, beware.

The three of them were seated around their little round kitchen table, enjoying dessert and coffee. Tony was amusing himself trying to work out what the coefficient of friction of his ice cream was. 

"Rhodey," Pepper started, making Tony look up from his plate immediately, "I get the feeling that there's something you're trying not to tell us."

With a wince, Rhodey put down his silverware and visibly searched for the right words. "Not quite."

Tony had to admit, the conversation had been faltering and nowhere near as animated as usual. Rhodey had been very distracted, and even Tony had picked up on that. He's assumed it was something to do with Rhodey's classes, though. Some exam coming up or whatever. One of those sorts of things that Tony routinely ignored on the basis that he could walk into any kind of science or engineering exam cold and still ace it.

"What is it, then?" Pepper pursued the point, setting down her own fork and taking a sip of her water. "What's bothering you?"

"I-- well, I think I might have to step back and end our arrangement," he said hesitantly, shocking the hell out of Tony.

"What?" He asked, " _Why_? Did-- what did we do wrong?"

The question made Pepper look pained, but she didn't say anything. Tony knew she thought he was being too willing to take blame, the way he asked it, but he needed to know the answer. 

Rhodey's expression twisted for a moment before it smoothed back out. "You did nothing wrong, Tony. And neither did Pepper. It's just... one of the new ROTC trainees asked me on a date, and I like her a lot. And I'm pretty sure this... 'us' would be too much for her."

Tony felt his own expression twist, felt the squirmy mix of inadequacy, jealousy and anger in the pit of his stomach. He'd known this day might come but damned if it didn't sting. "Well, tell us about her. Who are we getting dumped for?"

"Tony! Stop that," Pepper snapped. "If you're going to blame someone, you should be blaming me, not Rhodey."

"But--"

"No, Tony," she repeated firmly, as ever the more levelheaded of them. "If I hadn't insisted on asking, Rhodey wouldn't have said anything yet. He is doing his best not to hurt anyone, given the situation. And what to do to resolve it is his choice. We can't force him to stay if he doesn't want to. Just like his possible new date can't force him to leave."

Rhodey nodded. "I haven't made any decisions yet, Tony," he put in. "And I intend to be damned sure it's something I want before I really do step back from our relationship. That's not a step I'm willing to take for a first date. Maybe if we manage to make it a month. Maybe."

Tony chewed on that for a minute. 

It still hurt. It felt like a betrayal and almost like abandonment, even though Tony knew it was no such thing. He knew better than to believe Rhodey would ever do something like that. Rhodey had been the one to help him through the aftermath of his parents' death. In the weeks and months after the funeral, Tony'd been a mess and Rhodey had been the one to help him pick up the pieces. He hadn't met Pepper yet, then. Hadn't had time to adjust to being taken under the Howlies' collective wing.

So he forced himself to shove the feelings aside as best he could, then nodded. "Alright," he managed to say.

Pepper accepted that. "So, back to the good dirt. Tell us about her."

Rhodey smiled almost dreamily, making Tony's jealousy flare again, but thankfully this time he was curious enough to hear what Rhodey had to say to be able to stifle it. Mostly.

Collecting himself, Rhodey answered, "She's a rising sophomore in the Aerospace Engineering program and just joined ROTC."

At least it wasn't some blonde sorority bimbo, Tony thought uncharitably. Those had their appeal, too, he had to admit, and he'd dated a number of them, himself, but he couldn't imagine Rhodey finding anything long term in one of them. Not, obviously, that there weren't exceptions.

Many of them had gotten into MIT or Harvard or Boston U, which mandated a base level of intelligence and motivation. But still.

Rhodey caught his eyes as though he knew what Tony was thinking. "And, no," he added. "I'm not giving you any names or anything. Not yet. If things go well, I might let you meet her."

He could probably find her just with the information he had, Tony thought to himself. There wouldn't be many ladies who fit all three categories that Rhodey had named. 

Pepper nodded. "Sounds reasonable. Will you tell her about us?"

Rhodey considered that. "Not on the first date, but soon," he decided.

"Let us know how it goes," Pepper said, and then changed the topic entirely. "Now. What are you doing this weekend?"

"Besides that possible date on Friday night, I had no plans," Rhodey answered gamely.

Tony shrugged. "I'm going to keep working on my AI."

"Not all weekend," Pepper told him. "On Saturday afternoon both of you are coming with me to the Red Dragon. There's an ad asking for interested tabletop gamers for a possible campaign meeting there once a week. Bring your dice."

Rhodey grinned. "You know the DM, don't you?" He guessed shrewdly. 

Pepper said nothing, but her eyes betrayed her amusement.

Tony considered that. Any DM that had Pepper's approval was probably good. "What kind of campaign? Exalted? Shadowrun? Warhammer?" He asked. It made a difference. To him, at least.

Laughing at him, Rhodey shook his head. "More likely than not, it'll be something entirely unexpected."

"Probably," Pepper agreed. "But I guess we'll see. I want it to be a surprise, so I'm not saying anything more, until we get there."

Huffing at her, Tony muttered, "I'll show you a surprise."

"In bed?" Rhodey teased. "That's not much of a surprise."

"How would you know?" Tony shot back. "You have no idea what I might have built just for her."

"Tony, no," Pepper put her foot down. "We are _not_ alpha testing sex toys."

"Fine," Tony agreed. "Beta testing?"

Cracking up, Rhodey shook his head. "Tony, stick to your AIs."

Rolling her eyes at them, Pepper started gathering up the dirty dishes. Tony, well familiar with that nonverbal cue, quickly joined her, leaving Rhodey to follow them into the kitchen with the leftovers in their pots and bowls.

The conversation, such as it had been, died away.

The idea of designing his own sex toys stayed, though, and Tony prodded at it.

He'd never been overly interested in missiles. His dad had had that sector covered, and pretty much the only advances left to make were software based. Things like better guidance systems. The available propulsion systems were good enough to reach just about any location on the planet as it was, and the available payloads were plenty destructive enough for the jobs they needed to do. That really wasn't a field that needed Tony to advance it, and there were already too many of the damned things around as it was, in his opinion.

But sex toys could be fun to play with.

On multiple levels. 

And, better yet, they made good money. Reliable money.

It might have been a joke, but... Tony was liking the idea more, the more he thought about it. He was pretty sure Peggy would approve of the shift away from weapons, even if she likely would call his new plan crass and unrefined. Best of all, his dad would roll over in his grave.

Good. 

That was all good. 

Pepper broke into his thoughts. "Tony?" She prompted him sounding wary. "I know that look on your face. What are you plotting?"

"I'll let you know once I finish plotting," he replied.

He'd have to plan this out a little. Research it a little and try to come up with a good idea. A niche to fill. Maybe something to do with batteries. Rechargeable tech. Or programmable toys.

This could be fun.

Missiles never really had been. 

"I think you'll approve, though," he added.

Rhodey and Pepper exchanged a look that clearly said they thought he was going to kill them all in a fiery explosion, which he ignored.

He'd finish his AI lab assistant and then play with this idea some more, he decided.

"I'll be in the workshop," he told them and sauntered back out of the kitchen. "Work to do."


End file.
